WEAPONS Director Zach Cregger Reveals Two Possible Backstories for Aunt Gladys — GeekTyrant
Weapons stormed into theaters and pulled in $43 million in its opening weekend and quickly climbing past $80 million globally. With a cast that includes Amy Madigan, Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Benedict Wong, and Alden Ehrenreich, the film has become one of 2025's biggest box office surprises.
At the center of all the terror is Amy Madigan's character, Aunt Gladys. On the surface, she seems like just another sweet old clown lady. But fans quickly find out that she's a witch who preys on missing children to heal herself. Her true age is never confirmed in the film, adding to her unsettling mystique.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Cregger broke down the two possible origin stories he gave Madigan to work with. 'I was like, 'You can pick one of these two,'' he said.
The first version is more grounded in dark realism. 'She had to adopt this methodology that she uses out of a place of emergency to keep herself alive. I won't say any more than that.'
The second version pushes deeper into the supernatural. Aunt Gladys isn't human at all, just something trying to pass as one. 'That's an interesting way to think about it. I like that a lot,' Cregger added. She wears exaggerated makeup and a red wig to mimic a human appearance, but something always feels… off.
And there's another layer too. Cregger drew a parallel between Gladys' twisted magic and real-world struggles like addiction. 'This foreign substance comes in and it changes everyone's behavior.
'The house becomes a scary place. You can go to school and act like everything's cool, and then you come home and you hide from a zombie parent. That felt so real to me.'
Whether you see Aunt Gladys as a sick old woman clinging to life with dark magic or as a monstrous entity trying to imitate humanity, one thing's clear. Weapons has given horror fans a villain they won't forget anytime soon.
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